Is it alright to bury consumer reports that might help a consumer to avoid giving money to a business that will not deliver a product as promised? Internet defamation has become a serious problem online, but is it ethical? The answer that I would give is quite simple: Every company has a right to respond to critics and publicize themselves in a way that is positive.
http://redtape.msnbc.com/2007/09/most-savvy-cons.html

This healthcare company tried to encourage their employees to use Facebook to spread the good word about their successful projects. Wisely, many employees chose not to because of the well-known privacy restrictions that are placed upon them–they did not want to share information that might be considered sensitive on a social networking site. In the age of online reputation management strategies, news of any mess-ups would get out quick and do incredible damage to the image of the company.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2009/10/19/urnidgns002570F3005978D885257654005AB2F6.DTL

This guy is completely right to defend the idea of online reputation management–regardless of whether his particular arguments or right. I’ll leave you, the reader, to decide whether his arguments are cogent or not–but I think everyone can agree that reputation is of immense importance. Many businesses and individuals who have suffered from internet libel will agree when I say, I’m glad the industry of online reputation management exists.
http://tonyadam.com/blog/online-reputation-management-does-matter/

There is a longstanding debate amongst critics and proponents of reputation management services as to whether it is has a net positive or net negatvie effect on the Internet and society. Whilse some allege that these services are “gaming the system”, I would contend that people have every right to publicize themselves in a way that is flattering, or at least not demeaning. To the question “is it ethical?”, I would respond “is it ethical to advertise on TV and radio?”
http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9060960/Online_reputation_management_is_hot_but_is_it_ethical_

This article makes a detailed arguement about whether those who participate in web libel should have their anonymity gauranteed and protected under privacy laws. I won’t comment on that, except to say that internet critics currently have anonymity–as we know all too well. This anonymity enables them to make some pretty nasty comments which, whether true or false, inevitably become problematic for those being criticized.
http://www.miamiherald.com/opinion/other-views/story/1255416.html

This article emphasizes, correctly I think, the importance of online reputation to small and medium sized businesses. This is an incredible tool that is available to smaller businesses, but they don’t utilize it effectively. Online reputation is becoming more and more important in this age.
http://blog.pennlive.com/internet-marketing/2009/03/using_google_alerts.html

Understanding how the industry of web libel works is important to solving whatever problem you’re having with web libel. This article gives some assigned reading to help you to understand exactly how the industry works and how web libel companies do what they do. Although I can’t speak to the caliber of the books, it is definitely important to educate yourself on the topic.
http://www.websitemagazine.com/content/blogs/posts/archive/2009/09/14/reading-up-on-online-reputations.aspx

This article, along with the polling, speaks to the rise of the so-called “online reputation”. This is how you, or your business, are portrayed on the Internet. Search results, especially from Google, make up most of this reputation. But corporate reputation management is not easy, or instant, it requires hard work and time.
http://www.itnewsonline.com/showrwstory.php?storyid=1185

“Bad news travels fast on the Internet”. Never have truer words been spoken about the online community. Kryptonite, a bicycle lock company, found this out the hard way in 2004 when someone posted something on an online forum showing that a ballpoint pen could open the Kryptonite lock easily. Personal Reputation Management perhaps could not have prevented this secret from becoming public, but it could’ve lessened the pain that the company felt because of it.
http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9060960/Online_reputation_management_is_hot_but_is_it_ethical_

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